Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
by sponsormusings
Summary: "I've been waiting for you." Peeta's voice wasn't accusatory or blunt; it was just a simple statement, a fact. A submission for Prompts in Panem, March 2014. Day 6.


"I've been waiting for you."

His voice wasn't accusatory or blunt; it was just a simple statement, a fact.

"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take so long." She apologised. She smiled softly, enjoyed the way the sun glinted off the water of the lake and made his blue eyes sparkle.

"It's ok. I knew you had things to do before you got out here." Peeta raised a hand to shield his face, grinned back at her. "You're looking pretty today, Mrs Mellark."

"Figured I'd make an effort for my husband," she smirked, and twirled in a small circle. She didn't wear dresses often, but it seemed fitting today. She wanted to look pretty for him, wanted him to look at her the way he had for so many years already. With a smile on his face and a glint in his eye that told her exactly what he wanted to do to her.

It never failed to make her heart race, and she was certain that would never change.

"Are the kids ok?" He asked, beckoning her over. She nodded, and began walking down the small dock they'd built the year after they married. She lowered herself down until her hip brushed against his, slipped off her shoes. Her feet dangled off the edge into the cool water.

"They're with Delly and Thom and their brood right now."

He laughed, and wrapped his arm around her. _He always felt so good, like comfort and love and home all rolled into one._ "Ahhh, well she'll feed them all til their bellies are full."

"She will," Katniss agreed with a smile. She kicked her feet, watched the water ripple out from where her toes danced across the water. His jeans were rolled up to mid-calf, his skin the palest of gold. She'd always liked it best in summer, when they'd spent so much time outside that his skin would be warm against hers, their shades just that little bit closer to the other.

"So what do you want to do today?" Peeta asked her, drawing her close, turning his nose into her hair. He took a deep breath, and she laughed.

"What are you doing?"

"Smelling your hair," he said matter of factly. "It smells good."

"You're crazy," she murmured.

"About you," he countered. "You didn't answer me though. What do you want to do today?"

She thought about it, though it wasn't hard. It never was. After so many days she wished she'd _never_ had, moments she wished she could forget, there were just some things she never tired of. "I just want to spend it with you." He nuzzled against the skin of her neck, his breath warm, tickling the hair that rested against the nape.

"I think we can manage that," he said quietly. "It'll be nice. Just you and me, like old times."

"Like old times," she echoed with a smile, then pushed him into the water.

He came up sputtering, and laughing, droplets of water clinging to _those_ eyelashes like diamonds. His hand snaked around her ankle, tugged lightly.

She let him pull her in.

Their mouths met under water, slow and lazy; their limbs tangled, her legs twining around his waist, pressing herself against him. Their heads broke the surface, and the warmth of the sun on her head was a welcome contrast to the coolness of the water as it snaked around her body, slicking her dress to her like a second skin.

She made him fish, though he was still as abysmal at it as he was the first time she'd taken him out. He made her sing to him, a sweet, lilting lullaby she'd sung to Holly and Asher when they were babies. He moved over her in the dappled shade, skin sliding against damp skin, eyes locked, fingers twined together, gasps and sighs echoing each others.

They slept in the grass, her head on his heart, his arm protectively around her.

"Will it always be like this?" she asked later, running her fingers through the blond hair that she'd loved for so long.

"Of course," he told her simply. "It's whatever we want it to be."

Her voice caught in her throat. "Will they come here too?"

"Definitely," he said simply, his hand reaching to tip her chin up so she was looking at him. His eyes were young again, just like the rest of him, just like she had wanted them both to be. "The others are already here." Her eyes lit up, and he smiled. "But them? They won't be here for a while yet - they have to make sure those great-grandbabies of ours grow up to be good people."

She idly played with the buttons of his shirt. "They all miss you, you know," Katniss said quietly.

He nodded. "I miss them too. But they'll be here one day. We'll wait for them. Just like I waited for you."

She kissed him then, softly, sweetly, just like all the ones they'd had before.

The sun never set. They preferred it that way.

* * *

_A/N - The title for this was borrowed from the song by Jack Johnson._


End file.
